


Love is in the Hair

by lilhawkeye3



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Black Character(s), Black Hermione Granger, Black Lavender Brown, Fluff and Humor, Friendship, Gen, Gryffindor/Slytherin Inter-House Relationships, Hair, Hair Braiding, Hogwarts Era, Hogwarts First Year, Indian Harry Potter, Roommates, Strong Female Characters
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-29
Updated: 2020-06-30
Packaged: 2021-03-04 05:28:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,569
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24978442
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lilhawkeye3/pseuds/lilhawkeye3
Summary: A more diverse Hogwarts student body leads to a whole different meeting for the Gryffindor first year girls. After beginning a strong friendship, the six first year girls are ready to take the school by storm with the creation of their all-inclusive curly-hair club. Hermione, Lavender, Parvati, Lily, Kellah and Fay are about to usher in a new era of inter-house friendships.
Relationships: Lavender Brown & Hermione Granger & Parvati Patil, Parvati Patil & Harry Potter
Comments: 19
Kudos: 46





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [WordsmithMusings](https://archiveofourown.org/users/WordsmithMusings/gifts).



> Hair is something important to a lot of people's culture, heritage, and identity-- including for myself. I grew up not knowing how to deal with my curls until I joined a curly hair club in uni: hence the idea for this fic.  
> I have several goals for myself when writing this story:  
> 1) to write and portray a more diverse Hogwarts. At the end of each chapter, I am leaving a description of the characters background and hair type.  
> 2) to provide a depiction of acceptance and bonding of different types of people, because I think we need more of it right now.  
> 3) to have fun showing so many different types of hair!  
> Please, if you have any suggestions or ideas you'd like to see in this story, leave a comment! I'd love to include any ideas, opinions, backgrounds or experiences any of you have had. :) I hope you enjoy!

“You know, you have the best curl pattern!”

Hermione Granger looked up with wide eyes at the compliment. The 5th year prefect had just left the six of them first year girls in their dormitory, and it had been an uncomfortable quiet until the comment had been made. The tan skinned, kinky-haired blonde had been the one to speak, and was now grinning excitedly at her.

“Oh, thank you,” Hermione stammered as her hand reflexively flew up to pat her curls. “Your hair is wonderful, too,” she added as she observed the other girl’s hairdo: braided tightly on the top of her head, and hanging loosely down to her shoulders. “I wish I was able to braid mine like yours!”

“Oooh, ooh!” The Indian girl to her left jumped forward and grabbed Hermione’s upper arm to get her attention. “I can teach you, if you’d like! My sister and I often braid each other’s hair at home. I’d love to do yours too!”

Hermione tried to relax and smile at the offer. “I’d like that. My hair tends to get… bushy whenever I do any magic,” she grimaced slightly at the thought. “Braids  _ would  _ keep it more manageable.”

“Are you a muggleborn?” The other black girl in the room piped up. 

Hermione had heard some of the whispers on the train and at the feast already about less-than-stellar opinions towards muggleborns, so she felt her jaw tighten at the girl’s question. “Yes, why?”

“It’s okay, I’m a half-blood. A lot of muggle products won’t work,” she calmly explained, not seeming to take any offense at Hermione’s tone. “You either have to use magical products or completely natural ones. I mostly use coconut oil or Madame Elisa’s hair potions. Feel free to check out what I have in my trunk– I’m Kellah King, by the way.”

“Um…” They all turned to look at the vibrant red-haired girl who had cautiously stepped closer to their conversation. “Do you think something similar would work with my type of hair? I know it’s a different type of curl… “ She tugged self-consciously at the end of her long plait.

“You can try some of mine tomorrow, if you’d like!” Kellah offered. “You’re… Fay, right?”

The redhead nodded enthusiastically, her curls freely shaking behind her headband. “Fay Dunbar,” she confirmed, before continuing sheepishly. “I’m sorry… I was too excited after I got sorted and I missed your names.”

“I’m Lavender Brown!” The curly blonde girl said. “I’m a pureblood but I’m mixed. Funny how that works in the magical world– people only care about the first.”

Kellah hummed in agreement as she moved back to sit on the nearest trunk at the end of the arranged beds, but the Indian girl sighed and crossed her arms.

“That’s what they like to pretend,” she hissed. “They act all, _ ‘oh we’re different from muggles, we don’t care about race,’ _ but they certainly cared when my parents came to Britain from India eight years ago!” Her ranting cut off abruptly as she smiled apologetically at the rest of them. “Sorry, I’m Parvati Patil. My twin sister Padma just got sorted into Ravenclaw– we’re the first in our family to go to Hogwarts.”

“Me too,” the final girl in the dorm spoke up timidly, but Lavender ushered her forward with frantic but welcoming waves. “I’m Lily Moon,” the girl said, pushing her midnight black bangs out of her eyes. “I was adopted, so I’m not too sure on my muggle or magical roots.”

“You could always try a DNA test in the muggle world,” Hermione mentioned, the suggestion spilling from her lips before she even realized. At Lily’s hopeful look, she added, “I can ask my parents about it in the letter I’ll send them tomorrow. Oh! I’m Hermione Granger,” she added, flushing slightly. “I’m mixed, too.”

Lavender gasped, somewhat dramatically in Hermione's opinion, but she didn’t have much time to dwell on it as Lavender wrapped her in a tight side-hug. “That’s great! We should make a club.”

“Wait, what if we did?” Kellah asked. “I’m sure there’s students in other houses that would be interested in learning how to braid and take care of their hair.”

“That’s true,” Parvati cheered, before adding in a low whisper, “did you see Harry Potter’s hair? I don’t think anyone’s taught him any Desi tips for hair care or styling.”

“I heard him say he was raised by muggles at the feast,” Fay pointed out. “Although he did seem to know the Weasleys, so maybe I misheard.”

“We can always ask him tomorrow at breakfast,” Lily quietly said. “And see if anyone else is interested in joining a club.”

“How about we make a list?” Hermione was always one for organization, and this seemed like a relevant situation for her skills. “We can come up with ideas for meetings and activities tonight, and then begin to approach people tomorrow.”

“We can start off by asking our other yearmates. I’m sure there are plenty of first years who would want to join!” Parvati said as she rushed over to her shiny black trunk and opened it, rummaging around until she found a hand-bound notebook and a quill. She brought the items over to Hermione and pushed them into her hands. “Would you like to be the scribe?” At Hermione’s hesitation, she glanced at the quill and then giggled. “Don’t worry, the quill is self-filling. It never runs out of ink!”

Hermione took the items and carried them over to the desk situated beside the bed with her trunk, the rest of her suitemates trailing after her. She sat down in the chair as the other girls crowded around her so they all could see the blank page she opened to.

“Of course, we’re all listed as the club’s founders,” Hermione proclaimed as she wrote all six of their names down on the second line, asking for spelling when needed. “But what we need before anything else is a club name, and then I can put it on the top line.”

The group of them remained quiet for several moments, but Hermione could’ve sworn she could hear their thoughts tumbling through their minds.

“Hair Love?”

“Care for Hair?”

“Love is in the Hair?”

Everyone’s eyes turned towards Kellah, who shrank a bit at the reaction to her idea.

“Kellah, that’s perfect!” Lavender grinned, Fay and Parvati nodding in agreement while Lily gave her a simple thumbs up. Hermione chewed her lip slightly as she carefully wrote the name in the header with her finest cursive. 

“I hereby call this first meeting of the founders of ‘Love is in the Hair’ to order,” Hermione officially proclaimed with a grin. “Now, onto business!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Each chapter will have a note like this for new characters. Name, ethnicity & nationality, blood status, hair color and curl type [Crash course: Type 1 is straight, 2 is wavy, 3 is curly and 4 is coily. A to C is basically the size of the curl itself, so A is looser, larger curls and C is tighter, smaller curls.]  
> Gryffindor 1st year girls:  
> Hermione Granger: half white, half Afro-Carribean, British. Muggleborn. Dark brown hair, 3B.  
> Lavender Brown: half white, half black, British. Pureblood. Dirty-blonde hair, 3C.  
> Kellah King: British Nigerian. Half-blood. Black hair, 4C.  
> Parvati Patil: Indian. Pureblood. Dark brown hair, 2A.  
> Fay Dunbar: white, Scottish. Half-blood. Red hair, 2C.  
> Lily Moon: Adopted, possible mixed white/East Asian heritage, Irish. Black hair, 2A.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I'm so glad people are interested in this idea, thank you for the support! I was a little worried at first, but now I can tell this is going to be fun to write. I thought about it and decided against making this a series of one-shots as I already have a muggleborn story in that style, so this chapter actually begins a plot! Amazing. The written Hindi was translated by my friend. Enjoy!

The next morning, the suite was a flurry of activity as the girls readied themselves for their first day of classes. Parvati knew that appearance mattered almost as much as power in Magical Britain, but as Kellah had already chastised her to stop moving her head while she was braiding, the Indian girl listened to the conversation instead of joining in.

"...and for many students, this is their first time being presented to the rest of the world after their eleventh birthday," Lavender was explaining as she tucked her shirt in and started on her tie. "So it's _extremely_ important that we look our best because it can affect the rest of our lives!"

Lily and Hermione had paused from packing their bookbags and were now staring in horror at Lavender. Parvati winced slightly. It hadn't been the most tactful way to explain it, but it was important that they understood.

"Why did no one tell us?" Hermione demanded, her voice rising angrily. "I read dozens of books about the Wizarding World in the past year, but none of them mentioned that!"

"Because they don't _want_ you to," Fay popped out of the bathroom to answer Hermione, a toothbrush in hand. "There are some purebloods who think muggleborns aren't worthy of magic," she wrinkled her nose in disgust at her own words, "so they make information hard to learn. My da' was treated the same way when he first came to Hogwarts thirty years ago; he's a muggleborn."

Lily peered at the other girls cautiously. "Is it okay for you to be treating us this nicely? Will you get in trouble?"

Parvati gasped. "No, of course not! We're your friends!"

Kellah's voice hummed in agreement from behind her. "We want to make sure you're ready and not caught totally by surprise. I've lived in both the muggle and magical world. Here, you won't hear comments about your race usually– it'll be about your blood status."

"Or nationality," Parvati added.

"Or that," Kellah sighed in agreement and tapped Parvati on the shoulder. "Okay, your braid is finished!"

Parvati chirped a cheerful thanks before she slid off of Kellah's bed and went over to Hermione, taking both of the girl's hands in hers. "It'll be fine, Hermione. Just make sure to listen to what people say and if you have any questions, you can ask us."

Hermione bit her lower lip nervously before nodding firmly. "Alright. Thanks, Parvati." She gave a hesitant smile, which was understandable given the information she'd just heard. That was okay, though. Parvati pulled her into a quick hug before skipping over to give Lily one as well.

"Is there anything else we should know before we head down for breakfast?" Lily asked after she drew away.

Parvati thought back to the lessons she and Padma had with their mother on pureblood manners and tradition. Most things wouldn't apply to them yet as they were still young, but there were a few things… some really important ones, she realized with a start.

"Don't call anyone by their first name until they give you permission, and don't accept any jewelry from anyone!" She urged with a panicked gaze. "Not from a guy or girl. It could be seen as acceptance of courting." At Lily and Hermione's nods, she let herself relax a bit. It was their first day, and they were putting together a hair club! They'd be fine.

* * *

The girls had been planning to find Harry Potter and Dean Thomas that morning and ask them if they were interested in their hair club, but Parvati hadn't expected to find them waiting in the common room. The two boys were awkwardly standing near the portrait hole talking to each other, Harry reaching up to push his glasses further up his nose every so often and Dean fidgeting with his long sleeves. They turned towards the six girls once they approached.

"Are you girls headed down to breakfast?" Harry asked hesitantly.

"Yes! Would you like to join us?" Lavender answered for the group excitedly.

Dean shrugged. "Sure. The other guys haven't gotten ready– or up even."

None of the girls were impressed by that but Hermione's frown was certainly the largest. "I should hope they're not late on their first day. That wouldn't be a good impression."

Something nudged Parvati's brain as Dean and Harry shared a confused glance at her words… like they we're familiar with the term. "Harry, were you raised in the magical world?"

The boy looked at her curiously but didn't seem to have any issue with what she'd asked– which only raised her suspicions. "No… I lived with my mother's muggle relatives. Why?"

The murmured _oh dear_ from Fay echoed her thoughts perfectly. "Harry Potter, I'm afraid we're about to give you a last-minute lesson in societal rules in the magical rules."

"Um… could I listen as well?" Dean asked unsurely. "I'm muggle-raised, too."

Lavender smiled and stepped between the boys, grabbing both by the wrist and dragging them both through the opening portrait hole. "We'll walk and talk. But first, let me tell you about the club we're forming…"

Parvati and Kellah shared a fond but exasperated look as they led their suitemates to follow after the trio.

* * *

Lavender had caught the boys up to speed by the time they all reached the Great Hall, and to the girls' collective joy, they had seemed quite interested in the idea of a hair care club. Dean had lamented that he'd forgotten his shea cream for his edges at home, which had led to him and Kellah discussing alternative ideas to hold him over until he could owl-order some more. Harry had stared at Parvati in awe when she said she could help teach him about his own hair, his hand rising unconsciously to run his fingers through his messy locks as he nodded his interest.

Thus, it was with great purpose that Parvati strode over to the Ravenclaw table and plopped down heavily in the empty space next to her sister. Padma was sitting with several other first years, who observed Parvati's entrance with curious gazes. There was a pale, freckled girl with wild brown curls tumbling down her back, a boy with wavy golden hair, and another girl with straight, sienna toned hair.

"Vati, I'd like to introduce you to Isobel MacDougal, Stephen Cornfoot, and Mandy Brocklehurst," Padma said, gesturing in order at each of her housemates. "Everyone, this is my sister, Parvati Patil."

"Wonderful to meet you all!" She said with a respectful nod, which the three others returned before they continued to eat their breakfast, allowing the two sisters a moment to talk.

" _Aap kaise ho?"_ Parvati murmured softly in Hindi. For now, Padma was the only one she could speak their language with. She enjoyed having something easy to share with her sister, but still hoped they would find other students who knew Hindi to converse with. _How are you?_

" _Mai theek hoon,"_ Padma replied with a soft smile and a nudge of her elbow. _I'm fine._ It'd been the first night they'd spent apart after having shared bedrooms at home, and Parvati was glad to hear it. " _Kya chal raha hai?"_ _What's up?_

This would be an invitation to all the Ravenclaw first years, so Parvati made sure to shift so she was clearly addressing them all. "A group of us have decided to start a club to talk about hair care! Y'know, like how to braid, what products to use, styling skills, things like that! You're all welcome to join. We want to ask everyone in our year."

She knew she was applying stereotypes to the situation, but she couldn't help but giggle at how interested the Ravenclaws were at the learning opportunity she had just presented.

"It's okay for us to join?" Stephen asked, his enthusiasm coloring his voice.

Parvati nodded. "Yup! It's open to everyone. We didn't want to restrict it to a specific house. Why don't you wait to tell the rest of the first year Ravenclaws and then, if you want to join, just come over to the Gryffindor table to sign our list!"

Padma grinned and shrugged. "I'll be there as long as it doesn't interfere with classes," she teased, but Parvati knew she had her sister's support.

"It sounds like a fun idea!" Mandy said. "I'll come over later to sign it."

"Me too," Isobel added. "We'll come over before we leave the Hall, yeah?"

"Sounds good! I'll see you all later, then." With a side hug to her sister, Parvati got up to make her way over to the Gryffindor table, where she could see her suitemates had left an empty spot for her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Harry Potter: half white, half British Indian. Half-blood. Black hair, 2B.  
> Dean Thomas: Barbadian British. Muggleborn. Black hair, 4C.  
> Padma Patil: Indian. Pureblood. Dark brown hair, 2A.  
> Isobel MacDougal: white, Scottish. Pureblood. Chestnut-brown hair, 2C.  
> Stephen Cornfoot: white, British. Pureblood. Golden-blond hair, 1C.  
> Mandy Brocklehurst: white, British. Half-blood. Sienna hair, 1B.


End file.
